Women Migrant Workers

Invisible victims in Lebanon

Date: 01/12/2011 - 15:47

Lebanon is home to 1.2m foreign migrant workers out of which the domestic migrant worker(DMW) population is estimated at 400,000 and almost all female. The incremental growth in domestic workers hasbeen due to a combination of Lebanese views on social status and feminism where household chores are viewed aslowly and unw

Indonesia has its work cut out following UN resolution

Date: 29/11/2011 - 17:50

Indonesia has its work cut out for it if it intends to implement the stringent principles outlined in a draft resolution on violence against women migrant workers that was passed last Tuesday during the 66th United Nations General Assembly session.

A spokeswoman at the Indonesian Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York, Elleonora Tambunan, said the resolution did not stipulate any punishments for incompliant member states.

Anis Hidayah honoured by Human Rights Watch in Toronto for extraordinary activism

Date: 14/11/2011 - 08:49

In 1998, when Anis Hidayah was 20 and studying law in her native Indonesia, she heard a horrific story about a female compatriot who was raped by her employer while she was employed as a domestic worker in Saudi Arabia.

The young woman eventually escaped, but her Saudi boss faced no criminal charges and she was never compensated for her wages or the crime.

Hidayah came from a village in East Java where half of the women in the country regularly left their husbands and children to go abroad, taking up posts as domestic workers in an effort to lift themselves out of poverty.

Les travailleuses domestiques cambodgiennes sont victimes d’abus en Malaisie

Date: 21/11/2011 - 13:24

L’absence de contrôle exercé par les gouvernements cambodgien et malaisien sur les recruteurs et les employeurs laisse les travailleuses domestiques migrantes cambodgiennes exposées à toutes sortes d’abus, a déclaré Human Rights Watch dans un rapport publié aujourd’hui. Des dizaines de milliers de femmes et de filles cambodgiennes qui émigrent en Malaisie sont peu protégées contre le confinement forcé dans des centres de formation, des endettements lourds et des conditions de travail relevant de l’exploitation.

Modern slavery: the plight of migrant domestic workers in the UK

Date: 19/10/2011 - 07:36

It was almost enough to give me a warm fuzzy glow about Cameron — the news he had hired a Nepalese nanny through Kalayaan, a charity helping domestic workers to escape abusive employers.

Lebanon: UN calls for protection of domestic workers

Date: 18/10/2011 - 07:35

The U.N. expert on slavery Monday urged the Lebanese government to introduce legislation to protect some 200,000 domestic workers in the country, warning that many are living in servitude.

During a news conference at the end of her first visit to Lebanon in the role, Gulnara Shahinian said that while the government has taken some positive measures, much more still needed to be done.

Young Migrant Women in Secondary Education

Date: 13/10/2011 - 13:15

MIGS is pleased to announce the publication of the book “Young Migrant Women in Secondary Education: Promoting Integration and Mutual Understanding through Dialogue and Exchange”. The book is the result of an 18-month project funded by the European Fund for the Integration of Third Country Nationals of the European Commission and coordinated by the Mediterranean Institute of Gender Studies (MIGS). Partners to the project included the Centre of Research in Theories and Practices that Overcome Inequalities (CREA) at the University of Barcelona, the Centre for Right

Interview with Ethiopian Migrant & Filmmaker Rahel Zegeye

Date: 04/10/2011 - 09:07

Rahel Zegeye is a domestic worker in Lebanon, but that is not all she is: this is precisely the filmmaker’s message in her rising film “Beirut,” which delves into the personal lives of six fictional Ethiopian migrants.

Click here to read the interview

Source: Migrant Rights

Picture: Janie Shen / African Women in Cinema Blog

Migrant groups in Europe call for protection for Filipino au pairs

Date: 23/09/2011 - 06:56

Migrant organizations and advocacy groups supporting migrant rights are appealing to Vice-President Jejomar Binay to address the needs of Filipino au pairs in Europe. They also said the vice president was seriously mistaken if he believes that au pairs are overseas Filipino workers employed as household helpers.

Domestic workers demonstrate over UK visa changes

Date: 06/09/2011 - 14:55

Hundreds of migrant domestic workers have demonstrated outside Parliament against proposed changes to their UK visa conditions.

Current rules allow them to change jobs and move to a different household without losing their immigrant status.

The Justice 4 Domestic Workers campaign says plans to end the right will leave staff open to abuse or exploitation.